Sunburn is set in 1990’s Ireland and tells the story of Lucy and Susannah, two girls who fall in love the summer before their final year of high school. As the summer comes to an end and the girls find themselves unable to keep their love cocooned from the outside world, Lucy fears what other people will think. Her endless devotion and worship of Susannah becomes dichotomised by her inability to give Susannah the one thing she really wants. What comes after her summer of love is a senior year of deceit that brings all aspects of Lucy’s future to a crossroads. I devoured this book in one afternoon because I just had to see what Lucy was going to do next. She is an incredibly messy character who has many faults and makes a lot of mistakes, yet I still wanted to root for her.
Normally, I find stories about coming out (or the perceived impossibility of doing so) overdone, but the thing that sets this novel apart to me is how beautifully Chloe Michelle Howarth captures desire, longing and devotion in her writing. She perfectly encapsulates the way it feels to be a young queer woman, pining after your friend, teetering on the precipice of something bigger but unsure if you’re allowed to take that leap. And when the girls do take that leap together, it is described in some of the most gorgeous language I have ever read. Sunburn is a heart-wrenching story about first love and growing up.
I was excited to read Chloe Michelle Howarth’s second novel, Heap Earth Upon It, once I finished Sunburn. After a 6-month-long wait for what seemed like the only copy of the book in circulation at the Los Angeles Public Library, I finally got my wish! I am the type of reader who goes into things preferring not to have read a synopsis, so I truly did not know anything about the plot or what I should have expected going into this beyond a vague notion that this was a story about sapphic obsession and a budding adoration for Howarth’s writing style.
While Sunburn is a coming-of-age story of desire, devotion, and obsession, Heap Earth Upon It takes these same themes and follows them down a much darker and sordid path. The novel is set in 1960’s Ireland and follows the O’Leary siblings, Tom, Anna, and Jack (all in their late 20’s) and Peggy (13) as they leave behind everyone they know – and their biggest secret – and settle into a new town for a fresh start. The chapters are short, which helps to move the story along quickly, and each one is from the perspective of someone else. I’m not usually a huge fan of alternative perspectives in books, but I really appreciated the way that Howarth’s use of these differing perspectives cast doubt upon each of the other narrators and kept me guessing about what the truth really was.
Overall, I found the novel to be a poignant example of the ways that sexuality can be scapegoated and a fascinating reminder that we all live in our own worlds. If you tell yourself something enough times, you may well start to believe it. I would almost describe this novel as a thriller. Though not scary, per se, it is a bit disturbing, and definitely gripping. It starts off a tad slow, but once you start to unravel the story of the O’Learys, you don’t want to stop.
I am looking forward to Chloe Michelle Howarth’s next novel, Aftertaste, set to release in 2027 and can’t wait to see what deeply flawed and complex queer characters she will introduce me to next!
